


Scarf

by RobronSugdenDingle



Series: 31 days of Christmas 2019 [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Single Parents, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:10:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21650578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobronSugdenDingle/pseuds/RobronSugdenDingle
Summary: Robert should have remembered to take that damned disney princess scarf off from his neck...
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: 31 days of Christmas 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559164
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Scarf

**Author's Note:**

> I have to admit, I dont like Victoria or Diane AT ALL so...I added a scene of them in this because this is genuinely how they would react...

  
Robert should have expected parenthood to be hard when Sophia came along and Rebecca died straight after. He knew how hard it would be raising a child on his own considering he struggled to raise a hamster when he was little but he didnt expect this, to be on his knees outside the bathroom door in his own empty home.

"Sophia, will you just-! Please...come on, daddy's really really tired and stressed...so open the door and we'll go..."

"No!"

"Sophia...."

"No!"

Robert huffed and hit his forehead against the locked door. At times like this, he wished he had someone else to sort out his own five year old daughter...

She recently got into the habit of absolutely hating every single piece of clothing she got, especially if it was brand new. Her old coat she had, recently teared and since it was a very cold winter, Robert decided she had to get a new one anyways. So he bought a new peach coloured one with white fluffy material inside and...she hadn't taken to it well. 

"Its cold outside...you dont wanna look like a big snowman, do you?"

"No!"

Robert had enough. He had been sitting here for exactly three minutes three minutes too long to be conversing with a five year old. So he straightened his back and put on his warning dad voice.

"Sophia, you come out right now! Or you're not getting ice-cream!"

"No! I don't like ice-cream anymore!"

Robert cursed and then covered his mouth. She wasnt supposed to hear that...and dammit! He forgot she didnt like ice-cream anymore!

"Fine! Then...what do you like?"

"Jelly!"

"Come out, or you're not getting jelly!"

He heard the lock click and he pushed it open. Sophia stepped aside, her bright blonde twin tails framing her face. Her eyes widened and Robert showed her the coat again.

"Put it on....or no jelly"

She pouted, but finally gave in and allowed Robert to slide the coat on her. He gave her her usual kiss on the nose which she demanded she had every day before they went out and when he held her hand, she giggled.

"Are we going to the new house now?"

"Yep! We're gonna see lots of cows and sheep! A few piggies too!"

"Will Aunty Victoria be there?"

"Uhh...no. She's in a different place called Cornwall with Grandma Diane. We're gonna go to a place where it has...swings!"

Sophia gasped at that and jumped up and down in excitement. She then walked over to the stairs and grabbed the banister with both hands and began walking down carefully. The stairs and the height always nerved her a little. Robert sighed when he realised he accidentally forgot to put her Disney princess scarf on and he took out the letter that was hidden in his pocket.

Truth was...they were moving because they had been evicted. He had money problems because of his job that he had been fired from and after asking his sister for a loan millions of times, she rejected him and told him to grow up because he had a kid now and to stop being selfish. Apparently her and Diane assumed he had a drinking problem (god knows where they got that from...) and didn't give him any money to help with the rent. He remembered an angry phone call with Victoria a couple of months ago...

...........

"Eh? A loan? Rob, you've been asking for one for months now!"

"I know! Please Vic, I'm desperate and I wouldnt call if I wasnt...we've had a notice...an eviction notice..."

"Well I'm not surprised!"

Robert frowned at that and propped his feet up on the table. 

"What's that supposed to mean Vic?"

"Well, I mean if you're putting all your money towards drink, then..."

"You think I'm spending all of it on drink?! Who told you that?! Its rubbish!"

He could hear Victoria sigh on the other end and heard her mumble something to Diane. What the hell were they talking about?

"What is it Vic? What are yous saying?"

"Nothing! Just...we just thought that when you became a parent, it would be the making of you. Not turning into a selfish man who asked for more money..."

"Selfish? You want to see your own niece homeless?! Forget it! I dont want your money anymore!"

He hung up angrily and then Robert heard a small cough from behind him. He looked at Sophia who stood at the stairs in a pikachu night dress and she rubbed her eyes.

"Why are you so loud daddy?"

"Am I? I'm sorry sweetheart. Come here a second..."

She walked over and planted herself on her father's knees, her night dress riding up a little, so Robert fixed it by pulling it down and he hugged her and kissed her head. 

"Hiya...how do you feel about a new house soon?"

"New house?"

"Mhmm. With lots of animals and a big park and lots of sweets!"

...........

So yeah...he had been pretty pissed to realise that his own sister and stepmother werent going to give him a loan to keep a roof over Sophia's head. He shook his head and looked around at the empty house once more and left. He locked the doors and slid the keys through the letterbox, smiling at the scribbles all over the front door. He told Sophia to draw whatever the heck she wanted to with all of her art stuff since he was leaving anyways.

"Daddy!"

"Yep! Coming!"

He watched Sophia open the gate to their tiny garden and she walked out on the pavement and to the car. Robert tried to hand Sophias scarf over to her, only for her to shake her head and say no over and over.

"Sophia..."

"I'm cold...wanna wear your scarf"

Robert smiled and unwrapped his blue scarf, an extra large long one he had gotten from Rebecca as a gift when they had dated years ago. He wrapped it around Sophia's neck until she was satisfied with it and she laughed.

"Fluffy!"

She pointed to his neck with a smile and cocked her head to the side.

"You have to wear mines now!"

She took the scarf from Robert's hand and he kneeled down until she could reach his neck. She clumsily wrapped the scarf around and then turned to the car.

"I wanna see the piggies!"

........................

At first Robert thought that his car was simply playing tricks on him, but when it had made a loud sputtering noise and the journey transformed from a smooth ride to a bumpy one, he realised he had to pull over. He ended up standing on top of his car for signal and looked down at Sophia with a frown.

"Dont you dare try this"

He googled the nearest garage and called it, all the while on his toes and elbow facing the sky. When the garage had said that they would send someone out in twenty minutes, he waited. He played games with Sophia, gave her his coat because she started shivering in the cold of the car and he thought he was gonna die of hypothermia or something.

Finally, a tow truck came along and Robert stepped out of it with Sophia. He smiled at the guy and extended his hand out for him to shake.

"Alright? I'm Robert, my cars broken down I think..."

"Aaron. Uhh...I'll take a look then...nice choice of scarf by the way...suits you"

Robert blushed. He forgot he was still wearing the damn princess scarf and he nodded awkwardly.

"Sophia, my daughter, she wanted me to wear it...trade scarves for the day"

"Right...I'm assuming that's her? Drowning in your coat? If not then...I wont lie, I'll be a bit freaked out"

"Only a bit?"

Aaron laughed and then looked at Robert shiver. He looked freezing and especially in minus one...the car obviously had no heating and Robert had actually made sure his daughter was warm enough first...

"Tell you what, I'll do you a favour and drive you to the garage. Its actually not far...and I'll get you a coffee aswell. Warm you up?"

Robert looked at Sophia who tugged on his arm and she grinned.

"Can we see the cows?"

Aaron kneeled down until he was face to face with her and he pretended to draw a moustache on himself.

"I'll get you a hot chocolate? You can have a chocolate moustache like mines!"

"A hairy face is for boys only!"

Aaron chuckled and stood back up.

"So?"

..............

So they ended up in the truck together, driving back to the village. The two adults created small talk between each other on the way and Sophia constantly butted in whenever she saw a cow or a sheep. She squealed when she saw a horse and Aaron nearly jumped out of his skin. They drove back to the village, Aaron took the car in to the garage and he stepped out and shut the doors to Robert's dismay.

"Sorry, I'm actually off shift now. My uncles gonna fix it up though so don't worry. Are you in a rush?"

"Nah. We're moving house actually, moving here funnily enough. You know the mill?"

"The mill? Yeah, its just down the road..."

"There. At least I'll know someone around"

Aaron nodded and then motioned his head towards the cafe.

"I believe I owe you a coffee?"

"You dont have to. The ride back was enough. Honestly..."

"No. No I want to. I wouldn't mind getting to know you better anyways...besides, I owe this little one a hot chocolate!"

"I want marshmallows too! Olaf ones!"

Aaron chuckled awkwardly.

"Well...I don't think Bob will have Olaf marshmallows, but if you ask him really nicely, he'll give you a carrot to give to Sven!"

She gasped and immediately began tugging on her fathers hand, dragging him towards the cafe as hard as she could and so...the trio ended up inside the small cafe.

Sophia ended up mesmerised in one of Bob's stories about a fairy and a mermaid and...something else magical, so Aaron used that opportunity to speak to Robert.

"She didnt give you it? Wow...sorry mate, that sucks...and so close to Christmas too"

"I know. According to her and my stepmother, I'm a raging alcoholic so...in other words, keep an eye out because I might sneak a bottle of vodka in this coffee"

"I might join you"

Robert laughed and Aaron glanced at Sophia who was now telling her own animated story to Bob who listened with a big smile.

"So the mother..."

"Was a one night stand. Well, we dated years and years ago...she loved me in high school, I ended up dating her sister and she sent me gifts to try and get back with her. Her sister died and I grieved and then I got drunk and...Sophia was announced five months later...I dont regret it though. Shes the best thing to have ever happened to me..."

Aaron nodded.

"I can see that. Shes the double of you, you know"

"No. No, shes the spitting image of her mother"

"No! Shes well cute! Gets that from you"

Robert instantly realised what Aaron had said and then coughed awkwardly with a smile.

"Umm..."

"Sorry. I didnt mean...what I meant was...well..."

"Why don't I give you my number? You know...umm, so we can talk and stuff"

Aaron grinned.

"And stuff?"

"Shut up..."

Aaron laughed and took a sip of his drink. Sophia wandered over and pointed towards Bob.

"Daddy! Bob says I need to ask you veeery nicely for a unicorn! Can I get one?! Pleeease?! Oh and Bob's cold so I said I'd let him borrow my scarf!"

Robert realised he was still wearing the damned princess scarf and tugged it off. No wonder Bob laughed at him when he asked for an Americano. 

..............

A few weeks later, Aaron had stayed over accidentally. Sophia was up in her brand new bedroom when she heard a weird noise and walked downstairs. She saw her father sitting on the couch with his head on the headrest and Aaron beside him with his head tucked neatly in Robert's neck and both of them were fast asleep. Sophia wondered if Aaron's beard felt sore or if it tickled. She never really had the courage to ask about it.

But she noticed that they must have been cold so she walked over to the coat rack and grabbed her father's scarf and gently wrapped it around both of their necks. Daddy always did this when she was cold so...surely it must work for them! Walking behind the couch, she stopped and stood up on her tippy toes so she could kiss her daddy's forehead and then Aaron's head too. His short hair felt tickly but spiky...

Weird.

At first she thought it looked quite cute, both of them snuggled together in one large scarf, but when she saw them wake the next day...

Let's just say that the image of both of them choking to death on a scarf wasn't the nicest to see.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? Leave some christmassy aus that you wouldnt mind reading about ^.^
> 
> For some reason I've always imagined Robert and Aaron to have a little girl and name her Sophia. The name isnt even special to me it all, I just think it sounds cute haha


End file.
